A caged, feral clown awaits the audience’s arrival, gnashing her teeth at the bars of her cage and pulling at her hair.

Released only to parrot Be Our Guest – a stage school showcase production from 1997 – the wretched character is locked into servitude by two stern minders, with a VHS recording of the production projected onto the wall and played over and over.

Twinkle Toes by new theatre company In Bed With My Brother is a grotesque clowning piece exploring nostalgia and biography, asking what the effect of reliving an old recorded performance has our sense of self and our connection to an identity as an artist and performer.

Unfortunately, the stage craft of Twinkle Toes is so lacking the answer is not much effect at all. The structure of the piece is jarring and undeveloped; it is unclear as whether the clown is controlled by the projections, responding to them or actually part of the remembered performance, leaving the audience baffled.

The company relies on audience interaction without any sensitivity towards the experience created. The ending is abrupt and unresolved, leaving the technicians to prompt the audience that the piece had finished.

One star